I Care a Lot 2020 Movie Review

『A Black Comedy of Greed and Dangerous Alliances in Modern Society』

🎥 Movie Overview

🎬 Title: I Care a Lot (2020)
🌍 Country: 🇺🇸 USA
🎞️ Genre: Black Comedy / Crime / Thriller
🗓️ Production & Release: Planet Nine Pictures, Feature Film
⏳ Runtime: Approx. 118 minutes
📢 Director: J Blakeson
🖋️ Screenplay: J Blakeson
📺 Platform: Netflix and others

👩‍💼 Cast: Rosamund Pike – Marla Grayson
Eiza González – Fran

🧩 Story Deep Dive (Spoilers)

🖤 Alliance Bound by Greed and Devotion

Marla and Fran are business partners and lovers who run a cruel enterprise exploiting society’s most vulnerable. Their relationship is built on trust and success, serving as the only humanizing layer within Marla’s otherwise ruthless nature.

✒️ The Dynamics of Their Relationship: Fusion of Business and Romance

The relationship between Marla and Fran prioritizes shared goals over personal emotions, making it an extremely pragmatic form of partnership.

• Perfect Partners in Crime: Fran plays the role of “fixer” in Marla’s fraudulent guardianship business. She gathers information, conducts surveillance, and handles physical threats—making her essential to executing Marla’s calculated schemes. Their relationship is a strategic alliance for survival in a competitive world, functioning as accomplices who amplify each other’s greed.

• The Only Trusted One: Marla rarely reveals her emotions or vulnerabilities to anyone. Yet, with Fran, she shows genuine comfort and trust. Their intimate moments—sharing a shower or small daily conversations—hint that theirs is the only relationship where they can be truly honest in a brutal world.

🌈 Representation of Identity: Everyday Queer Villains

This relationship also holds significance in terms of LGBTQ+ representation in contemporary cinema.

• The Power of “Normalization”: The film does not portray Marla and Fran’s lesbian relationship as exceptional or dramatic. They are simply partners in life and business, and their sexuality is neither the cause of their villainy nor the central focus of the story. This natural depiction sends the message that queer couples, like heterosexual couples, can be both good people and utterly ruthless villains.

• Successful Female Antiheroes: Marla embodies the archetype of an antihero who will stop at nothing for success, while Fran provides devoted support. Their partnership refreshingly replaces the typical male-centered “villain couple” trope of crime thrillers with a female, queer duo.

⚖️ Trials and Devotion: Moments of Extremity

The conflict with Roman, the son of Jennifer Peterson, pushes their relationship to the ultimate test.

• The Greatest Weakness: Marla is kidnapped and tortured by Roman’s men, facing life-threatening danger. Despite the risks, she refuses to give up Fran or abandon the business. Fran remains the only person Marla truly cares for, proving that her devotion to Fran is her sole remnant of “humanity.”

• Fran’s Anxiety and Loyalty: Fran often expresses fear and unease when Marla’s recklessness endangers them both. While her feelings echo the audience’s conscience, Fran ultimately chooses to embrace risk out of loyalty and shared greed, standing by Marla’s side in the fight.

Their relationship rests on an unspoken vow: “Even if the whole world is against us, we’ll still get rich together.” Their love lacks empathy or morality toward others, but within their bond lies blind trust and affection, representing a cynical portrait of modern survivalism and ambition.

🎯 Personal Rating

💕 Love Scene Intensity: ♥♥
⭐ Rating: ★★